Well, as the Who said, “The Kids Are Alright”

Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 to go through to the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup. And look: sure, it wasn’t Liverpool’s first team, either; we were playing at home; and it wasn’t like this was a purely youth team–Senderos, Silvestre, and Eduardo can all rightfully be called veterans, and Bendtner, Fabianski, and Nasri are all young but have a lot of first-team experience. But you know what? It’s still impressive for the second-team, which had youngsters like Kerrea Gilbert, Fran Merida, and Craig Eastmond, to beat a club like Liverpool in a knockout competition. The kids will take confidence from this performance, I have no doubt.

I didn’t see the match, so I won’t give out ratings, but Merida grabbed an early goal, Insua equalized for Liverpool, and then Bendtner scored the winner after the break. The liveblog I was reading made it sound like Ramsey acquitted himself very well, and it’s great news that Nasri was able to play for 90 minutes, with no apparent ill effects. If he’s not ready for a start against Spurs on Saturday, we’ll surely see him against AZ next week.

And we’re through to the quarterfinals, which is when we got knocked out by Burnley last season. Of the eight teams remaining, all eight are Premiership sides (well, more accurately, seven Premiership sides plus Portsmouth…), so we’ll have our hands full no matter who we draw. With the exception of Liverpool, the Big 4 clubs plus challengers (Aston Villa, Tottenham, and Citeh) are still in it. The weakest clubs remaining are Blackburn and Portsmouth. That match will take place the first week of December.

Realistically, we don’t have much of a chance of winning it, but this is great in that it means the youngsters get one more well-deserved chance to show what they can do against a top-level team. And getting to the semifinals would be great, as it would mean two more matches, since the semifinals feature a two-legged tie to get to Wembley.

But well done to the kids, it’s a quality win. In lieu of ratings, I thought people might be interested in a poll. This is something I always think about when I watch these League Cup matches. If, for whatever reason, the squad that played today was its own club, how would they do? Or, in other words, if you just took away Arsenal’s first choice 11, how well could they do in the domestic (Premiership) table. Obviously top 4 would be out of the question, but could they finish in the top half of the table? Could they avoid relegation? Vote below:

How Would Arsenal’s Carling Cup Squad Do in the Premiership?(polls)

It’s tricky–they’ve put in some good performances over the last couple of seasons, but shown their vulnerability at times, too. For, I would say bottom half of the table, but I think fairly close to mid-table. I could see this squad finishing in the 12th-15th range.

Anyway, good day to be a Gunner. I’ll be back in with Spurs preview stuff on Friday.

Arsenal: Starters: Fabianski, Gibbs, Silvestre, Senderos, Gilbert, Eastmond, Nasri, Ramsey, Merida, Eduardo, Bendtner. Subs: Szczesny (Gesundheit!), Bartley, Coquelin, Frimpong, Randall, Sunu, Watt.

Liverpool: Starters: Cavalieri, Degen, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Insua, Kuyt, Spearing, Plessis, Babel, Voronin, Ngog. Subs: Reina, Aquilani, Benayoun, Darby, Dossena, Eccleston, Ayala.

No Vela. Not sure what’s going on there, as I wasn’t aware of any injuries. Strange.

My first thought on looking at the lineups are that there’s a lot of firepower out there. Bendtner and Eduardo have both shown their goal-scoring quality in the past, and will be driven to put in a good performance to try to stake their places in the first-choice eleven. Nasri, Ramsey, and Merida are all skilled players capable of popping up and scoring a goal for midfield, and will all be motivated. On the other side, Liverpool starts four players who have played forward/striker at some point in their careers: Kuyt, Ngog, Voronin, and Babel. Plus, they have two very skilled players they can bring in from the bench in Aquilani and Yossi. Add in the fact that they’ll be shooting on inexperienced backlines with little experience playing together and two keepers who haven’t seen much game action in a while, and don’t be surprised if the match is an end to end affair. Of course, since my predictions are pretty much always crap, that probably means it will end in a 0-0 draw.

Also notable is Craig Eastmond’s first start for the senior side. He’s an academy product who featured prominently for the U-18 side that won the FA Youth Cup and the Academy League last season. Congratulations to Craig.

That’s it, then–I won’t be able to watch the game so I won’t do a full recap or player ratings, but I will be following it online as best I can and will probably drop a few things in the comments section. If you’re bored at work as well, please feel free to do the same.

Come on Arsenal.

As I’ve said previously, I feel a little conflicted about the competition. Do I want to win? Yes, of course. But I have mixed feelings about how we treat the competition. Because, to be clear, Arsene Wenger does not really care about winning the Carling Cup. He views it as an opportunity for younger players to get to play–in that sense, it’s kind of a glorified reserves league for Arsenal. And if the manager isn’t too concerned with whether the team gets knocked out of the competition, it’s hard for us fans to get too worked up (or as my co-worker says, “be-jiggedy”) about it if we lose.

Still, I have to admit, I enjoy watching the matches when I get the chance. Part of it is the novelty of seeing a group of young players I haven’t gotten to watch very much before, but I think a lot of it is although the players are not as good or as skilled as the regulars, they are at a stage in their careers where a good performance or two can have a big impact on their career trajectories, and they know they will only have a few opportunities all season to play in the first-team, so they play with a real palpable drive and passion.

This match is a little bit odd. Usually at this stage, we’re playing a bottom of the table team or a lower division team, for whom playing us is one of their biggest, if not the biggest, fixture of the season. Their players are usually very motivated by the opportunity to play in front of such a big crowd in a match with so much exposure. But Liverpool are largely in the same boat as us–they’ll be playing youngsters and reserves, and have about the same motivation to win as we do. As Ben Folds would say, it’s a battle of who could care less.

In terms of team news, as usual, there’s some good, some bad. Let’s get rid of the bad first–Rosicky, Denilson and Djourou are still down with injuries, and Traore and Wilshere are out with minor knocks. The latter two are disappointing, especially Wilshere, who has shown a world of promise but hasn’t gotten much in the way of first-team opportunities. He’s precisely the type of player that benefits most from our Carling Cup strategy, and it’s too bad he won’t be able to show what he can do against Liverpool tomorrow.

In good news, though, Nasri and Fabianski is back, and will both start. Nasri had a good first season for the team last season, and is still quite young–he could really be a difference maker down the stretch for us. Even more important, he could keep Diaby out of the lineup. Bendtner and Eduardo, who both came on as late subs against West Ham, will supposedly start. My best guess at a lineup:

Fabianski

Gilbert-Senderos-Silvestre-Gibbs

Coquelin-Ramsey-Nasri

Eduardo-Bendtner-Vela

That’s assuming we go with a 4-3-3, which is far from certain. But honestly, at this point, isn’t Vela like the all-time leading goalscorer in the Carling Cup? I think he’s only scored a goal or two in every other senior competition, but it seems like he scores for fun in the Carling Cup. He’s like Crash Davis. Got to get him in the game somehow, right? Hopefully we’ll have enough quality to get through Liverpool–the home field advantage should help, and they’ll be playing reserves as well.

The big news for Liverpool is that it should be the first start for £20 million man Alberto Aquilani, who was brought in to replace Xabi Alonso over the summer but has been crocked since he last played for Roma (in the Champions League match against Arsenal, ironically enough). He’s a quality player, and will be looking to put in a good performance to convince Rafa he’s ready to play regularly, but hopefully he’s still rusty enough from the lay-off that he won’t damage us too bad.

Right, well, that’s about it. Come on Arsenal.

I know it’s the Carling Cup, but, you know, it’s Arsenal, and maybe you’re looking for an excuse to waste time at work. That’s what I’m here for.

Arsenal: Starters: Szczesny, Gilbert, Silvestre, Senderos, Gibbs, Wilshere, Coquelin, Ramsey, Traore, Watt, Sunu Bench: Shea, Bartley, Eastmond, Randall, Barazite, Frimpong, Vela

West Brom: Starters: Kiely, Barnett, Zuiverloon, Olsson, Jara, Thomas, Teixiera, Korren, Dorrans, Moore, Cox Bench: Carson, Meite, Martis, Mulunbu, Bednar, Reid, Woods

Interesting that Vela starts on the bench. I have to think this means he’s just recovering to health, and probably isn’t 100% match fit yet. Anyway, we haven’t lost at home in this competition in quite some time, so hopefully the youngsters can pass a big test tonight. As far as I know, the game is not being televised live here in the States, although there’s probably a thread of it out there somewhere.

Come on Arsenal.

(UPDATE: 2-0 Arsenal, with goals from Watt and Vela. Onto the next round. Since it’s the Carling Cup and I didn’t see it, I won’t be doing a formal recap or ratings. I’ll probably drop back in with any mid-week news, and will definitely be back on Friday with a Fulham preview.)

It also brings up a lot of questions about the integrity of the competition, fixture congestion, and the best way to develop young players. We will, inevitably, be criticized for not fielding anything resembling our first team. To put it simply, I think we have no designs on actually winning the competition–instead, our goal is simply to get a look at some of our younger players in competitive action, and to get those players some experience in a knockout competition. Critics will say we are wrong to do this, and that it devalues the competition to have the best teams not trying to win, and the best players sitting out the competition entirely.

We will counter by saying that fixture congestion makes it impossible to play the first team players in every single competitive match. Especially with the World Cup shortening the season a bit, the fact is that, barring an early knockout in either the FA Cup or Champions League, our players are pretty much going to be playing every weekend and a midweek game virtually every week until May. Asking players to play every one of those games is borderline inhumane, but will also result in injuries and fatigue to the point where those players wouldn’t be nearly as ineffective at the end of the season as they were at the beginning.

To combat this, the big clubs have basically two options–they can either (1) play some version of their first team in all competitions, but “rotate” players through so everyone gets the occasional match off; (2) give all the players the same match “off” by dropping them from the sqaud in one competition. Arsenal, obviously, have chosen option (2).

And finally, option 2 is not just a measure to rest the first team–it’s also a great chance for the younger players to get some senior team action. It’s an important development tool for the club, and it’s great for the young players because they can show what they can do against senior opponents. Many of Arsenal’s key players (Clichy, Fabregas, Bendtner, Song, and Denilson) who came through the youth program first shot to prominence in the Carling Cup. Last season, Vela and Gibbs played well enough to cement a place as important members of the senior squad, and Jay Simpson played well enough to be an attractive loan target for West Brom and later QPR.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I think it’s the most “winnable” trophy of any of the 4 competitions in which we play, so I’d like us to put a little bit more into trying to win it. On the other hand, I do think that would entail incurring injuries or resting players in the games in close proximity, which would weaken us in other competitions. And our youngsters wouldn’t have nearly enough of a chance to prove themselves.

But it is what it is–Arsenal is not trying to win this competition, so it’s hard for fans to be too upset if the club does, in fact, lose. It can still make for good watching, though, if for no other reason than because it gives you a rare chance to see our brightest prospects testing themselves in game action at a high level.

West Brom is a very, very tough first match-up for Arsenal. The Baggies finished bottom of the table last season and were relegated to the Championship. Manager Tony Mowbray left for the greener pastures of Celtic. But West Brom has bounced back, and currently sit top of the Championship table. They’ve used their attractive brand of play, tallying 20 goals in 8 games, 5 more than the closest competitor. There’s a real probability that this is the best club in England outside of the Premiership, and they’ll be motivated by the chance to claim an Arsenal scalp in a knockout competition, even if it is just our second team. They’ll come out looking to play football, and will be looking to create chances against an inexperienced defense.

This game will present us with the first glimpse of several first team players this season. Obviously it’s hard to know exactly which reserves and youngsters rank where on Wenger’s ladder, but here’s my best guess at what we’ll see tomorrow:

Szczesny

Gilbert-Silvestre-Senderos-Gibbs

Wilshere-Ramsey-Merida-Traore

Watt-Vela

Come on Arsenal.

“We have a new momentum, but if we do not do the same, then it is not worth it.

“We want to be competitive again in every game and see where we can go until the end of the season.

“We have shown we can do it, to beat the big teams, so we can have no excuse with not doing it against the rest of the teams.

He’s dead on, and with him holding the arm band, hopefully the point will be taken and results will come. That kind of thinking and inspiring talk make me think Arsene wasn’t completely wacko when he see’s Cesc as “virtually 26.” I like Adebayor’s confidence, but a message could be sent with more victories against the Wigans and Fulhams of the league. I’ll be ready to anoint the Gunners’ return to the title race when and if they string together a number of wins in a row.

As for the Carling Cup, it’s a trip to Burnley, a mid table Championship team who will put up a stern test. They’re the team who ousted Chelsea from this competition last year, and this is a squad that shouldn’t be over looked. Other than that, however, I don’t have anything else to talk about in terms of the opposition. In terms of Arsenal, it’ll surely be more of the same from Wenger, who has mentioned that he’ll use some of the bench players from the weekend – meaning the likes of Vela, Silvestre, and Bendtner will be handed a start. There are a number of injuries to be wary of in the aftermath of the Chelsea game, so it’ll be interesting to see who is out on the pitch when things kick off.

I’ll confess that I wasn’t able to watch the whole match, but the moments that I saw didn’t surprise me in the least. When you have a group of youngsters like that, playing in such an environment, the odds are that you’ll let them attack, and worry about defending later. There were some shaky moments, clumsy touches, and mistakes that clearly showed their inexperience, yet there were moments of magic and passes that make you realize it’s a matter of it not when midfielder Jack Wilshere will make his way into the first team.

These kids deserve their plaudits, and playing so well in two consecutive games is something to take notice of. But as Gunnerblog points out, these kids are playing in a no pressure situation. If they were to lose the game, Arsenal fans and coaches would be disappointed for about 20 minutes after the match. The Carling Cup is no high pressure cauldron of the Premier League, where a tie here or dropped points there could spell the end to your title run. Wenger himself recognizes this:

To play that team in a Premier League game could be tempting but it is difficult to say as the pressure and the environment is different then. What they do on the pitch is no coincidence though.

That’s not to take anything away from the kids that player yesterday; they deserve to be applauded, and there is certain hope for the future. Heck, the more you watch the likes of Aaron Ramsey or Jack Wilshere (don’t hate me Arsenal fans) the less the possibility of Cesc leaving scares the heck out of me. I’m not saying he’s going, not saying it would be good if he left, only that there are other central midfielders who could be world class waiting in the wings.

Another major storyline from last night was the 76th minute appearance of Amaury Bischoff. The Frenchman/Portuguese international was signed on free transfer over the summer, and by Wenger’s own admission, a complete gamble. Bischoff has struggled with injuries, but is on the mend and has appeared in two reserve matches and last night’s Carling Cup. It’ll be a great surprise and boost to the midfield if he can challenge for a spot in the first XI.

The other injury news is out of Germany – Tomas Rosicky, the oft-injured Czech midfielder had routine surgery to try and fix whatever other problems continue to linger. Who knows what will come of this, but if Rosicky can stay fit (when and if he returns), it’ll be a good boost to the experience factor of our side. I still remember what he did to the US back in ‘06. That attests to his ability.

That’s all for now. Highlights are here, in case anyone hadn’t caught them. More to come before the weekend.

In my attempt at player news, Jack Wilshere may get his first start, but he isn’t even the youngest, as Emmanuel Frimpong is nine days younger. I say start the two of them just to play two 16 year olds. Keeper Lukasz Fabianski is the geezer in the side at the ripe old age of 23. Song, Djourou, and Bendtner are some of the more experienced players. This approach of youth also seems to be paying off in the league as the young first team is playing well already in this season.

I find it hard to care much about today’s match. You can’t watch it unless you subscribe to Arsenal tv, although I will search for a stream closer to game time. Sheffield United will be a tough test, probably playing a more senior side than ours. In fact, I can guarantee that without knowing much about it. The big question is, what will the average age of our starting side be? My vote goes for just under 18 years old.